Part One:
HOW WILL COVID-19 AFFECT FARMERS’ MARKETS? CAN LOCAL FARMERS HELP US SURVIVE THIS CRISIS?
We speak with Tamara Benjamin from the Purdue University Diversified Farming & Food Systems program. Local and other small-scale farmers are likely to be hit hard if open-air farmers’ markets close due to the public’s fear of coronavirus. This could have a longer-term impact on the food supply chain.
On the other hand, the possibility of getting more of our food from local growers could help us get through the crisis. If we can meet more of our needs for dairy, produce, and meat from local sources, we can avoid empty shelves and, at the same time, be better able to practice social distancing and safe transactions.
Part Two:
PREGNANCY DURING THE TIME OF COVID-19
Our guest is Nina Martin, who covers sex and gender issues for ProPublica. We discuss how the pandemic will affect the millions of women who will be delivering babies in the midst of a COVID-19 world. What precautions will hospitals take to ensure a safe delivery and minimize the risk of infecting the mother or the baby? What about doctors, nurses, LNAs and other people in the hospital? How can we keep them safe from the virus? What if some mothers test negative for COVID-19 before giving birth but test positive afterwards?
Many mothers bring a partner or support person to assist during the birth. Does that multiply the risks for everyone? Some hospitals have banned partners and supporters in order to be on the “safe” side. But is such a policy medically problematic, in that the mother’s and baby’s health could be jeopardized without that assistance and support? Don’t we preserve scarce medical resources if we allow someone other than hospital staff to watch the baby while the mother is recovering from the effects of the major medical procedure of giving birth?
